The subject matter herein relates generally to electrical connector assemblies having multi-piece backshells.
Electrical connector assemblies are used in many applications. Some electrical connector assemblies include electrical connectors provided at ends of cables. Some cable assemblies use a backshell to house the electrical connectors and portions of the cables. Typically, the backshells are two-piece backshells having a top half and a bottom half that are coupled together using a ferrule and mechanical fasteners, such as threaded screws that pass vertically between the top and bottom shell halves to secure the top shell to the bottom shell. The threaded screws are extra components that must be processed and threadably coupled to the shells during the assembly process, increasing the part count and increasing assembly time and cost of the electrical connector assembly. The screws tend to be small so as to not unnecessarily increase the overall size of the shells, as separate threaded bores need to be provided for the screws. However, the small screws tend to be unreliable and tend to strip easily during assembly, leading to high scrap rates during assembly.
A need remains for a backshell for cable assemblies that can be assembled and disassembled without the use of traditional additional mechanical fasteners.